Southern rides momentum heading into Miners Bowl with Pittsburg State

Sep. 30—The Miners Bowl has a bit of a bigger feel to it this football season.

And a lot of it has to do with the sudden rise in success for Missouri Southern.

Southern, with its first 3-1 start to a campaign since 2013, will clash with No. 10 Pittsburg State (4-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg, Kansas. A three-game win streak has the Lions rolling into the rivalry matchup with plenty of momentum as they seek to knock off the MIAA-leading Gorillas for the first time in eight years.

"This is a rivalry that means a lot. But quite honestly, it's kind of grown into more than that," second-year MSSU head coach Atiba Bradley said. "It'd be kind of selfish to make it about me. It's so big for this program, and not just because it's Pitt State, but because it's another opportunity to add to the accomplishments that we've had early in the season."

Those said accomplishments?

Well, after consecutive victories over Northeastern State, Central Oklahoma and Fort Hays State, Southern finds itself in a three way tie for second place in the conference standings with No. 23 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 12 Northwest Missouri.

To put that into better perspective, Southern hasn't finished top-two in the conference since it won the league championship in 1993 with a 9-1-1 record. The Lions also finished tied for third in 1997 with a 7-3 record, but all seven of their wins that year were ultimately vacated due to an ineligible player taking the field throughout the season.

Needless to say, Southern has set itself up in the early season to potentially achieve a level of success it hasn't experienced in nearly three decades.

"The confidence level is high," Bradley said. "I told you guys earlier in the year that I think this is a much improved football team. I liked the way we looked coming out of the summer, and I still feel the same way against this crew. I feel like our ones compete with anybody in the country Division II wise. I still feel that way."

But Bradley and the Lions are fully aware that there's a lot of season to be played — seven games, in fact. It starts with a rivalry showdown with the Gorillas on Saturday, and the road won't get much easier from there in a conference like the MIAA.

"We lock in on the process," Bradley said. "Sometimes it's hard. You want to hype a game up and say, 'This is a big one, this is a big one.' But the reality of it is that they're all big games. You know, it was big when we played Kearney, it was big when we played Northeastern. Each game is going to be big because the ultimate goal is a conference title, and it goes through every opponent in the league."

Last year's meeting between MSSU and PSU ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Lions as they surrendered 10 unanswered points in the final seven minutes to suffer a 20-16 loss at Fred G. Hughes Stadium. However, it was an improved showing for a Southern team that had lost its six previous outings against Pitt State by an average of 36.8 points per game.

Southern's last triumph over PSU came in 2013 when the Lions earned a 35-21 victory in Pittsburg. The Gorillas hold a 43-9-1 advantage in the all-time series.

The Southern offense, averaging 350.8 yards per game, is led by quarterback Dawson Herl, who's completed 57.1% of his passes (56 of 98) for 643 yards and four touchdowns. He's also second on the team in rushing with 108 yards and three TDs on 29 carries.

Herl's top target, Chris Boudreaux, has 256 yards on 16 catches. Two other Lions have over 100 yards receiving in Jaedon Stoshak (165) and Ezekiel Lang (140). Joplin High School product Nathan Glades leads the team in rushing with 397 yards and four TDs on 81 carries.

The MSSU defense is led by linebackers Richard Jordan Jr., Carthage graduate Colton Winder and Coleman Booker, who have 45, 30 and 25 tackles, respectively. Jordan has a team0high 5 1/2 tackles for loss, and defensive lineman Solomona Fetuao leads the way in sacks with two.

The PSU offense is directed by quarterback Chad Dodson Jr., who's completed 74 of 130 passes for 1,067 yards and 10 TDs. Running back Caleb Lewis has 338 yards and three scores on 61 carries, and Bryce Murphy leads the team in receiving with 344 yards and four TDs on 17 catches.

Galena native P.J. Sarwinski has a team0high 26 tackles for the Gorillas, including 15 solo tackles and 3 1/2 tackles for loss. Webb City product Alex Gaskill Frontenac product Brandon Mlekus have 19 tackles apiece, and Antoine Nunn Jr. has a team-high two interceptions.

Following Saturday's game, Southern will return to Fred G. Hughes Stadium to take on Lincoln on Oct. 8.

Contact Jared Porter on Twitter at @JaredRyanPorter.